QMI Agency

Smokers on a plane forced a Sunwing flight from Halifax to the Dominican Republic to land unexpectedly in Bermuda on Friday.

After making the unscheduled stop, cops boarded the plane and arrested three passengers, officials said.

"It appeared to be a father, a mother and a son. The parents appear to be in their 50s. The son, I believe, is around 22 or so," acting Insp. Paul Simons told United Press International.

The report says the family has been ordered to stay Bermuda and their passports and travel documents have been seized by local police.

Passengers were accommodated in a hotel overnight and continued the trip Saturday.

A post on airliners.net, which claims to be "the biggest and most visited aviation interest site on the Internet," read: "Seems there (are) people (who) didn't get the memo about not smoking on flights anymore and the fact that you have to listen to the instructions of the crew."

If you're planning on flying with Sunwing in the near future, prepare to be inconvenienced.

CUPE, the union that represents the airline's 900 flight attendants, says a strike might be on the horizon.

"On March 2, sixty days after the start of the conciliation period, the flight attendants' union will have the right to strike," CUPE says on its site. "At that time, the conciliation period can be extended with the consent of both parties. But as things stand now, the union doubts that it would agree to an extension."

CUPE calls the Jan. 23 departure of a Sunwing spokesperson at the negotiating table "a major setback." The union of Sunwing flight attendants is attempting to negotiate its first collective agreement.